They live in temperate and tropical waters throughout the world. As its name implies, the false killer whale shares characteristics with the more widely known Orca ("killer whale"). The two species look somewhat similar and, like the orca, the false killer whale attacks and kills other cetaceans. However, the two dolphin species are not closely related.

The false killer whale has not been extensively studied in the wild by scientists; much of the data about the dolphin has been got by examining stranded animals.